Bremen coach to keep faith with Lukimya

Tuesday, September 22, 2015 9:21:00 AM America/Los_Angeles

Congo DR's Assani Lukimya is set to keep his place in the Werder Bremen team against Darmstadt on Tuesday despite giving away a last-minute penalty in their Bundesliga defeat to Ingolstadt.

Centre-back Lukimya gave away a clumsy penalty in injury time for pulling Ingolstadt's Stefan Lex and Moritz Hartmann converted the 93rd-minute penalty to seal Bremen's 1-0 home defeat on Saturday. The 29-year-old Lukimya hung his head in shame, but coach Viktor Skripnik says the Congo defender will keep his place at Darmstadt.

"'Luki' has put in some good performances, especially this season, and we have confidence in him," said Skripnik on Monday.

The Ingolstadt defeat was only the second Bremen have suffered this season after back-to-back wins over Moenchengladbach and Hoffenheim. Lukimya, a Congo DR international, played his part in history as Ingolstadt's victory meant they are the first team in Germany's top flight to win all of their first three away games in their debut season.

Austrian free-kick specialist Zlatko Junuzovic is expected to return to the Bremen squad for the Darmstadt game after recovering from a cold. Bremen will be without midfielders Ulisses Garcia, who has a broken toe, and Philipp Bargfrede, who is suspended after being sent off just before the final whistle against Ingolstadt.